A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Liverpool handed their fiercest rivals a painful lesson on Thursday with a dominant 2-0 win over Manchester United in the first leg of a Europa League last-16 clash.
Here is a round-up of results from the European League matches played on Friday.
Sweden scout Roger Sandberg is not expecting Germany to make many changes for their World Cup game on Saturday, despite the world champions' flat performance in a 1-0 defeat by Mexico in their opening match.
Germany's shock World Cup opening defeat to Mexico on Sunday has left their tournament plans in disarray but coach Joachim Loew sounded confident the world champions would quickly make amends.
Images from soccer matches played across Europe on Saturday.
Real Madrid failed to win their Champions League group for the first time in four years when a late goal by substitute Marco Reus allowed Borussia Dortmund to equalise and clinch a 2-2 draw.
Second-placed Borussia Dortmund beat hosts Mainz 05 2-0 on Friday in coach Thomas Tuchel's return to his former club, ending their three-game winless run in the Bundesliga to close in on leaders Bayern Munich.
Three South American sides have accounted for almost half of all World Cup titles but their worst overall performance since 2002 has raised the question: Is South American football on the wane?
Germany's Toni Kroos emerged as the world champions' natural leader on Saturday, stepping up to guide them to a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Sweden kept them on course for the World Cup last 16.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday.
Images from football matches played in Europe on Friday.
The FIFA World Cup at Russia saw a variety of celebrations -- from the weird to some fancy dance moves -- Rediff.com has got it all covered here...
Borussia Dortmund bounced back after slumping to their fourth straight Bundesliga defeat against Hanover 96 at the weekend, cruising past second tier St Pauli 3-0 on Tuesday to reach the German Cup third round.
Borussia Dortmund beat Hertha Berlin 3-2 on penalties to reach the German Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday after the match finished 1-1 after extra time.
Defiant 10-man Porto upset Juventus to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate draw despite losing 3-2 to the Italians following extra time in a thrilling clash that went to the wire on Tuesday.
Liverpool added another fairytale comeback to the history books as they fought back from 3-1 down against Borussia Dortmund to reach the Europa League semi-finals after Dejan Lovren's towering stoppage-time header secured a 4-3 win on Thursday.
Borussia Dortmund edged past Freiburg 1-0 on Sunday courtesy of captain Sebastian Kehl's first goal in almost two years to go four points clear in second place in the Bundesliga.
Substitute Lukas Podolski grabbed an 81st-minute equaliser to rescue a 2-2 draw for 2014 World Cup winners Germany in an entertaining friendly.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. score twice as his side punished a sloppy Liverpool to win 3-1, while Manchester City beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Manchester United beat AC Milan 5-4 on penalties after their International Champions Cup match in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium ended 2-2 in regulation time on Saturday.
Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund suffered a shock first defeat of the season, letting in two late goals to slump to a 2-0 loss at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.
Germany coach Joachim Loew has named four talented youngsters, including three uncapped players, in his preliminary 27-man squad for Euro 2016.
Juventus scored twice in a minute as they came from behind to clinch a dramatic 3-2 win over Olympiakos after Andrea Pirlo had celebrated his 100th Champions League appearance by scoring from a characteristically effortless free kick on Tuesday.
Kylian Mbappe and Radamel Falcao struck early as Monaco reached the Champions League semi-finals with a 3-1 home win over Borussia Dortmund in an enthralling game on Wednesday that sealed a 6-3 aggregate victory.
Bayern Munich slumped out of the German Cup semi-finals 2-0 on penalties to Borussia Dortmund.
Levante striker Roger Marti brushed off squandering a penalty to score the winning goal as his side pulled off a shock 2-1 La Liga victory at Real Madrid
Borussia Dortmund's Ciro Immobile struck twice in the second half to secure a 2-0 victory.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Borussia Dortmund snatched a late goal at Atalanta to progress with a 1-1 draw, while AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, both with three-goal leads from the away legs, completed the formality of qualifying with 1-0 wins at home on Thursday.
Substitute Mario Goetze led Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich on a second-half four-goal rampage after midtable Mainz 05 had the temerity to take a halftime lead at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
South Korea scored, twice, and the German team crashed out of the tournament in the first round, for the first time in history. Uttaran Das Gupta discovers a stunned nation on a visit to Germany during the World Cup.
South Korea's faint hopes of reaching the last 16 of the World Cup have faded further with news that captain Ki Sung-yueng will miss their final group game against Germany.
The game in front of 57,000 fans in Hamburg's Volksparkstadion started 15 minutes late due to heavy traffic and long queues for increased security checks following the attacks that left 130 dead and hundreds injured in the French capital last week.
Images from Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Depleted Borussia Dortmund shrugged off the absence of more than half a dozen starting players to ease into the German Cup quarter-finals with a comfortable 2-0 win at third-tier Saarbruecken on Tuesday.
Armenia midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored twice as Borussia Dortmund thrashed Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0 on Saturday to launch their season with a bang on coach Thomas Tuchel's Bundesliga debut with the club.
Liverpool failed to muster a single shot on target in a Champions League game for the first time since a 1-0 defeat to Benfica in February 2006.